Trust
by pprbckwrtr
Summary: When the past becomes the present. **I have a hard time with titles, but I think this will make sense in the end.**
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own the characters, just taking them out for a spin.

* * *

Cindy walked up behind Claire and Jill standing near the railing that overlooked the homicide unit. "So we ready for dinner?" She asked as her friends turned to greet her.

"We are but it looks like Lindsay may be out," Jill motioned below them. "She's bringing Rachel Dawson's boyfriend in for questioning on her disappearance."

Cindy moved to the rail, "does she think he had something to do with..." she broke off when she saw Lindsay escorting a tall dark haired man towards the interrogation room. Claire and Jill both noticed how she tensed at seeing him, gripping the rail so tightly that her knuckles whitened.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked as she placed her hand on Cindy's. When she got no response she just looked back to the man.

As if the man could feel eyes burning holes through his skull he glanced around, finally making eye contact with Cindy. He watched her for a few seconds before giving her a knowing, and somewhat creepy, smile. Lindsay, noticing this strange interaction, ushered the man into the interrogation room and looked questioningly up at her friends.

"I have to go," was all Cindy managed as she turned and walked away. Leaving her friends to just stare at each other in utter confusion. When Lindsay finally went to question the boyfriend Jill turned to Claire, "I'll go," and she went out to find Cindy. Once outside she saw Cindy at the bottom of the steps having an argument on her cell phone. As Jill walked up behind her she heard Cindy say, _no Mickey you stay home. Don't worry about it, I'll see he's taken care of this time. _She ended her call and turned to go back inside when she ran into Jill. "What are you doing?" Cindy asked angrily as she tried to brush past.

Slightly taken aback by her tone Jill reached out and grabbed her arm, "hey. That guy seemed to upset you and I wanted to make sure you're okay." When she realized that Cindy was not calming she let go of her arm. "Are you going to tell me who he is? And why you need to take care of him?"

"What? Were you listening to me?"

"You weren't exactly whispering. So?"

"Look, he's just someone I knew a long time ago. And if he has a missing girlfriend there's a good chance he's involved, I just want to make sure he gets caught. Okay?"

"There's more that you aren't telling me," Jill glanced over Cindy toward the steps, "maybe you'll tell Lindsay."

Cindy turned to see Lindsay and Claire walking towards them, then she did a quick scan of the steps. She saw the young man was also leaving the building walking down the other side of the steps. Once again as if he knew she was there he stopped to look giving her a quick wave before he headed up the block away from them. "Where the hell is he going?" She asked Lindsay.

Surprised by the question, and the tone with which it was delivered, Lindsay responded, "it was just a questioning. There's no reason to hold him."

Cindy could see the confusion in the three pairs of eyes that studied her, waiting for some clarification for her uncharacteristic behavior. But she was not in the mood for explanations. "I have to go," she said as she backed away.

"What?" Lindsay made a move to stop her but Claire grabbed her arm.

"Let her go, she'll tell us what's bothering her when she is ready." After Cindy turned the corner Claire continued. "Okay, now tell us who this guy is."

* * *

Lindsay waited until they were seated in their booth before she filled them in on her earlier interview. "The guy's name is Eric Milton and he has been dating Rachel for a few months now."

"Do you think he had something to do with her disappearance?" Claire asked

"He came in voluntarily, the girl's parents love him, her friends say he's great to her. I honestly just asked him in for some background information, hell I don't even know if there is a disappearance. He said they had an argument and he thinks she just went away for a few days to sulk." Lindsay said as her frustration with the whole situation seeped through.

"Speaking of that, why are you even on this case?" Jill asked.

"The girl's father is a friend of the chief. So he says 'jump' I say 'off which bridge'."

"Given Cindy's reaction to this Milton guy, you going to look into him?" Claire asked.

"That was weird right?" Jill and Claire both just nodded, "What did she say when you caught up with her outside." Lindsay asked Jill.

"She was on the phone fighting with some guy named Mickey and then she said..." Jill trailed off not sure if she should finish her thought eventually cracking under Lindsay's glare. "She said don't worry I'll see he's taken care of this time." Jill finished in an almost whisper.

"This time? There was another time?" Claire's confusion turned to concern as she looked between her two friends. "Did she say anything else?"

"Just that he was someone she used to know and if he has a missing girlfriend that he is probably involved."

"Well after Cindy's outburst I asked Jacobi to do some digging on the guy." Lindsay stated as their dinners arrived, they sat and ate and made small talk but they all clearly had their minds elsewhere.


	2. Chapter 2

Seven o'clock the next morning and Lindsay was on her way to a crime scene. Some poor schlub went and got himself shot in an alley behind a bar last night and now, before her morning coffee, she is on her way investigate. Lucky for her, Jacobi likes her much better after said coffee so he waited for her, cup in hand, at the entrance of the alley. She took the cup and gave him a very thankful smile, "what we got?"

"Remember the Milton kid from yesterday?"

"Yeah," she responded hesitantly.

"Good thing you talked to him yesterday." They walked over to Claire kneeling beside the body.

Claire stood as she saw Lindsay approach. "Single gun shot to the chest." Claire said trying to sound her normal detached self, last night's conversation replaying in her head.

Lindsay, knowing her friend all too well, just moved forward and put a hand on Claire's arm. Then she turned back to Jacobi, "any witnesses?"

"Uniforms found the bouncer from last night, guess he has an apartment upstairs. Said Milton was fighting with a redhead last night, but she left well before he did. Didn't see what time Milton left though."

Lindsay scanned the crowd as Jacobi talked, worried about giving him any unconscious signals and to find the only redhead she was interested in at the moment. Unfortunately her redhead was not in her usual spot behind the police tape and this gave Lindsay a moments worry. _Don't be stupid Boxer_ were the words that she forced into her head. Once she and Jacobi had gathered their evidence and talked to any potential witnesses they agreed that they would meet back at the station.

Lindsay walked with Claire to the coroner's van. "Linz..." Claire began, not knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Just get the body back and do your thing." Lindsay instructed as she walked off toward her car.

When Lindsay arrived back at the Hall she saw Jacobi and Tom going over a file, Jacobi gave her a quick glance then took the file and walked the other way.

"What was that about?" She asked Tom as she approached her desk.

"Jacobi is going to handle the Milton case." Lindsay shook her head but before she could say anything Tom continued. "The chief still wants you on the missing Dawson girl."

"Tom, we don't even know if there is a case there. For all we know that girl ran off. We do however know that somebody shot Milton." She needed to be on this case and she couldn't exactly tell him why. She couldn't even explain it to herself, she knew the thoughts raging in her brain were wrong but they still scared her.

"Jacobi is on it," Tom started up the stairs, "stay away from it Lindsay," he yelled back without looking at her.

She threw her hands up and stormed off, to the morgue. When she arrived Claire was working on Milton and Jill was leaning against Claire's office door.

"Like I said before, single gun shot, death looks to be pretty immediate. I've sent blood off to tox."

"Tell it to Jacobi." Claire looked confused so Lindsay continued. "Tom told me to stay away from this."

"Does he think there's a reason you should?" Jill asked quietly,

"Like what Jill?" Lindsay snapped.

Claire studied her friends for a second. "What are we thinking here?" She covered the body and removed her gloves while the other two just studied the floor. "Come on, this is crazy."

Lindsay glanced up, "I have to go find my missing person." She turned to leave, "probably isn't even missing," she muttered on her way out of the door.

"I have paperwork to catch up on." Jill said as she walked through the office and left by the other door.

Claire went to her desk and dialed the phone, she let out a ragged sigh when the other end went to voicemail.

* * *

Outside Lindsay scanned the parking lot for Jacobi, without thinking whether or not she should, she ran over and jumped into his passenger seat. "What are you doing?"

"Look, you know and I know these cases are connected. We may as well solve them together." Lindsay responded without looking at him.

"Fine" he said as he started the car, "but you handle Tom."

"Don't I always." Lindsay laughed. "So you going to show me that file?"

"I would if you weren't sitting on it."

Lindsay lifted up off the seat and pulled the file from underneath her. "Where we headed?" She asked as she began studying the file.

"Back to talk to the bouncer again. I need a better description of the woman that Milton fought with last night."

After a few minutes of studying the file, Tom's reason for keeping her off the case, she simply laid it on her lap and looked to her partner. "She didn't tell you?" He asked.

"No." Lindsay whispered as she turned her eyes back to the windshield.


	3. Chapter 3

The bar was not yet open for business so Jacobi and Lindsay took the back stairs up to the bouncer's apartment on the second floor.

"So, Mr. Williams, this morning you told me that you saw the victim fighting with a redheaded woman last night?" Jacobi asked his witness once he and Lindsay had been invited into the apartment.

"Yes that's right."

"Would you recognize her again, if you saw her?"

"Oh yeah." he said with a smile. "I mentioned her to Joey and he thinks he had seen her before."

"Joey?" Jacobi inquired.

"He was working the bar last night."

"She's been in the bar before?"

"No, he saw her in the paper. She's a writer or something."

"Did you hear what they fought about?" Lindsay asked nervously.

"No. The guy came in about 9, she came in a little after and found him at the bar. They fought a little inside and then she stormed out. When I saw him follow her I went out after them to make sure she was okay. They went at it pretty good in the parking lot, then she slapped him, he laughed and went back into the bar. I watched her get into her car and drive off."

"And you didn't see her after that." Lindsay affirmed.

"No."

"And since you didn't see him leave you don't know if he left with anyone." She was leading the witness and she knew it, but what hurt was when she caught the glare from Jacobi. He knew it too.

"No. I did not see him leave."

"Okay, thanks. If we need anymore information I'll give you a call." Jacobi shook the man's hand and he and Lindsay left the apartment.

Back in the car Jacobi turned to look at her, "You want me to drop you off back at the station?" Lindsay shook her head. "Then how about we actually ask some questions instead of giving our witnesses the answers." He started the car and pulled away.

"I'm sorry." Lindsay whispered.

"You think she's at work?"

"Probably." Lindsay responded after a quick glance at her watch.

* * *

At the paper the inspectors walked over to Cindy's empty desk. Lindsay glanced around the newsroom until she spotted Cindy's editor, David, sitting in his office. She and Jacobi walked over to the open doorway. "Excuse me, we're looking for Cindy Thomas. Has she gone to lunch?"

"She called in sick." David responded with a skeptical frown as he looked up at Lindsay.

"You have your doubts?"

David stood and moved around to the front of his desk, "she was back to work a week after taking a bullet to the chest. She doesn't do sick."

"Where do you think she is?" Lindsay questioned hesitantly. She was getting a weird vibe off of him but couldn't quite name it.

"She has been receiving job offers since the serial killer story," David informed them as he crossed his arms, "I think she finally agreed to take one seriously."

"She wouldn't do that." Lindsay responded, feeling the need to defend her friend.

David frowned, "yeah well I don't know where she is. What do you need her for? Its not everyday the cops come looking for a reporter. She's usually doing the chasing."

"She may be a witness..." Jacobi began.

"Thanks for your help." Lindsay interjected, cutting him off.

Once in the elevator Jacobi turned to her, "are you sure you want to come with me when I talk to her?" Lindsay looked at him questioningly. "All the editor did was accuse her of going on a job interview."

"What?" Lindsay glared at him but he refused to acknowledge it, "and what are you going to accuse her of?"

"Just let me do the talking."

"You can't be seriously thinking she had anything to do with Milton's murder."

"At the moment I have nothing else." Jacobi responded honestly.

When the doors opened to the lobby Lindsay stormed off the elevator.

* * *

I know this is a short chapter, but the next one is longer.


	4. Chapter 4

Cindy forced herself up off of the couch and shuffled over to the front door. After identifying the offending knockers through the peephole she took a deep breath and opened the door. "Hey, what's up?" She asked softly, leaning against the doorway.

"We tried you at work, your editor said you called in sick." Lindsay answered. "You okay? You don't look so good."

"I had a late night. What do you need?"

"Can we come in?"

"Now's not the best time. Could we do it later?"

"We could do it here now or we could all drive down to the station." Jacobi added bluntly. The two women both looked at him, one angry the other confused.

"Come on in," Cindy relented as she stood back and opened the door wide enough for them to enter. She followed them into the living room, "do you want to sit down?" She asked as she dropped back onto the couch. Lindsay sat at the end of the couch, trying to keep the mood casual. Jacobi chose to remain standing, opting for a more serious mood.

"Eric Milton was found shot to death this morning." Jacobi began matter-of-factly.

Cindy looked up at him in surprise, "what?" Then she quickly looked to Lindsay for an explanation.

But Jacobi continued, not giving Lindsay a chance to say anything. "Someone matching your description was seen fighting with him last night at the bar behind which he was found."

Cindy crossed her arms and looked to the floor, "it was me." Then she looked up quickly, "that fought with him," she added firmly to clarify any misunderstanding. "I followed him to the bar and I fought with him, then I came home." She looked to Lindsay, "I swear that's it."

The three of them turned toward the bedroom as a man came through the door, Lindsay took note of the fact that he appeared to be sporting a hangover of his own. "The bathroom is over there." Cindy said quickly pointing behind him, not giving him the chance to get involved in the conversation. He picked up on the cue and turned around, a few seconds later they could hear the start of the shower.

"Part of your late night?" Lindsay asked softly. "Does he have a name?"

Cindy's gaze returned to the floor. "Yes."

Jacobi moved to the armchair across from Cindy and set the case file on the coffee table between them.

"Let's just cut to the chase. We already know that five years ago Eric Milton was accused of killing your roommate Sarah Redding."

"Okay."

"We also know the since there were no witnesses and no physical evidence that no charges were brought."

"Right."

He was becoming frustrated with Cindy's lack of participation in the conversation. "The file also shows that he accused you of harassing him for months after the murder until he finally took out a restraining order and eventually moved out of town." Cindy's eyes left the floor and rose to his, waiting for the inevitable question. "You don't have anything to say?" He asked.

"Like what? I did not kill him if that's what you think. And honestly, I don't care who did."

"Cindy." Lindsay interjected. "We don't think you had anything to do with this" she glared at Jacobi, "but your attitude isn't helping."

"What do you want me to say?" Cindy looked at her imploringly.

Before anyone could say anything else the mystery man emerged from the bathroom. Jacobi stood to face him, "Michael Gray?" The man just stared at him in surprise.

"How did you..." Cindy questioned.

"His picture is in the Redding file." Lindsay informed her.

Cindy looked at her for a moment before shaking her head and looking to Michael. The realization sinking in that Lindsay didn't need to ask him name, she recognized him the moment he walked into the room.

"Why are you looking into Sarah's case?" Michael asked as he walked further into the room.

"Eric Milton was murdered last night." Cindy told him. "They are investigating."

Michael stared at her for a moment and then looked between Lindsay and Jacobi. "Look, I don't know what you are doing here but I was with Cindy all night. She had nothing to do with it."

"And she was with you. Pretty convenient. Just like last time." Jacobi said. "What time did you arrive here?"

"I drove up from LA. I got here a little after midnight."

"And did you go out again after arriving?"

"No. We had some catching up to do."

"Pretty big coincidence. You come to town the same night that the man you blamed for your fiance's murder is murdered himself."

"Cindy called me and told me that Milton may be involved in some girl's disappearance. I just... needed to be here."

"We looked into Sarah's case," Jacobi picked up the file. "Milton claimed that they had a relationship and that you had a jealous temper."

"He was lying." Michael responded brusquely.

"And you two were together at the time of her murder?" Lindsay looked at her partner, Jacobi was trying to get a rise out of him.

Cindy stood abruptly when she saw Michael move forward, "Mick." He glanced over and stopped his movement.

"So you do have a temper?" Jacobi asked sarcastically.

"I think we are done here." Lindsay announced as she stood from the couch. "I assume you two will be staying here." She glanced at Cindy.

Cindy followed them to the door, after Jacobi stepped into the hallway Lindsay turned back to her. "I mean it. You stay here. Do not help or hinder this investigation."

"I didn't kill him." Cindy felt the need to reassure.

"I know." She trusted that Cindy could never take another's life, but what worried her was whether her friend could cover for someone who did.

Jacobi turned at the end of the hallway and waited for Lindsay to catch up to him. As she got closer she could see the anger in his eyes. "What was that about?" He demanded

"What?"

He turned and started down the stairs, "this is why Tom wanted you to stay off this case."

"Come on. You can't seriously think she had something to do with this. And what were you doing trying to implicate them in the Redding murder?"

"I wanted to see his temper? Plus, she wasn't being overly cooperative, she could be covering for him."

"I don't think she would do that."

Outside the building he turned to face her, "you don't sound convinced."

Lindsay stared at him for a moment before breaking her gaze, "I think his death is connected to his missing girlfriend. We need to find the Dawson girl." She said as she moved to the car.


	5. Chapter 5

Lindsay was grateful that Jacobi agreed to indulge her and accompany her to talk to Rachel Dawson's family. She was convinced their cases were connected, she just hoped that her stubborn sense of loyalty wasn't going to get them both into trouble.

When Emily Dawson opened the door of the family home Lindsay immediately noticed that she looked much to happy for someone with a missing sister.

"Inspector Boxer." The girl said with a bright smile. "Rachel has come home, isn't that great?"

"Has she?" Lindsay looked to Jacobi in surprise. "May we come in to speak with her?"

"Certainly, please come in." Emily led them into the family room where her parents were hovering over Rachel.

Upon noticing Lindsay Mr. Dawson moved to greet her. "Inspector Boxer, I would like to thank you for your work. And apologize for any trouble we caused you. We now know that Rachel had a small argument with her boyfriend and went off on her own for a while. I truly hope we haven't inconvenienced the department too much."

"We are just happy it all worked out well for her." Jacobi cut in when Lindsay was slow to respond.

"Yes, of course we are," Lindsay added. "There was another development with the case that I was coming to discuss with you."

"What could that be? Rachel is home." Mrs. Dawson asked

"Eric Milton was found shot to death this morning." Lindsay informed them bluntly.

"Oh, my god." Mrs. Dawson exclaimed as she sank onto the couch next to Rachel and took her hand.

"What happened?" Rachel asked,

"We aren't exactly sure," Lindsay said as she moved closer to Rachel, "we wondered if it was connected to your disappearance."

"But I didn't disappear."

"Is there somewhere privately where we could talk about where you were?" Lindsay glanced from Rachel's parents and back to her.

"Anything that has to be asked can be done in front of us." Mr. Dawson replied forcefully.

"I just thought Rachel might be more comfortable speaking without an audience." Lindsay tried to clarify.

"You don't think she has anything to do with Eric's death do you?" Mrs. Dawson asked

"No, of course not." Jacobi assured them. "Any information that she may have could help us catch whoever is responsible."

"I don't think I have any information. I went to a hotel by myself to cool down after our fight. I called him about 2 a.m. to apologize and he said we would work it out."

"Anything can be helpful, even if it doesn't seem important."

"Oh, he mentioned a fight with a woman at the bar."

"Did he tell you who she was?" Jacobi asked

"No but she was parked across the street while he walked to his car."

"He saw her?" Jacobi glanced to Lindsay but she merely studied Rachel as she told her story.

"Yes." Rachel answered.

"Do you think this woman had something to do with the murder?" Mr. Dawson asked.

"We are looking into that." Jacobi informed him. Lindsay, continued to study Rachel. Something wasn't right, maybe it was wishful thinking.

"Please let us know if we can be of anymore assistance." Mr. Dawson reached for Lindsay's hand, breaking her study of his daughter.

"Yes, of course we will. Thank you." Lindsay shook his hand. She and Jacobi said their good byes and went back out to their car.

"Back to the reporter's then?" Jacobi asked as they got into the car.

"What? You didn't believe that did you?" Lindsay asked amazed

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Come on. The girl disappears her boyfriend get killed and then she miraculously returns. That doesn't seem off to you?"

"Okay, I'll admit it is a little too coincidental. But how about this one. Milton gets away with murder for five years and ends up dead hours after fighting with the victim's best friend. Oh and the victim's fiance just happens to be in town at the same time." Sensing the conflict within his passenger Jacobi continued. "I know she's your friend and honestly I can't see her killing someone either. But logically you have to admit it is the best scenario we have at the moment."

She knew Jacobi was right, and if Cindy were an unknown suspect she would already be down at the station answering questions with a lawyer by her side. But it was Cindy, so there had to be another explanation she just had to find it, quickly. "Before we go back to Cindy's let's stop by the station, I want to see if Claire has gotten the tox screen back yet. We can discuss our next step then." Lindsay responded.

"Fine, I'll fill Tom in on what we have so far, you talk to Claire."


	6. Chapter 6

Lindsay sank onto the couch as Claire sat behind her desk going over the file in front of her. "Did you get Milton's tox screen back?"

Claire looked up, "I did. His blood alcohol level was .12 and he had rohypnol in his system."

"Rohypnol?" Lindsay asked surprised. "So he wouldn't have put up much of a fight."

"I would assume not." Claire said with a frown.

"Sounds like he was targeted by someone who needed to subdue him before killing him." Lindsay stated, mostly to herself.

"That's not for me to say." Claire responded, unnerved by the tone of Lindsay's statement. Before she could ask what Lindsay was thinking Cindy burst through the morgue doors and stormed into the office.

"What the hell did you tell David?"

Lindsay jumped up. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay home."

"Why is my boss calling me and asking why I'm sitting on a story I'm involved in?"

"I told you we went there looking for you. He thought you were on a job interview." Lindsay tried to explain.

"And you thought murder suspect sounded better. That kind of help I don't need."

"Nobody said suspect, Jacobi may have said witness, and we didn't say anything about murder."

"He's not stupid, you're a homicide inspector for christ's sake."

Claire moved from behind her desk, "Cindy, we don't think you are a suspect." She reached out for her young friend but before she could pull her into an embrace Cindy's phone rang.

Cindy backed away as she reached into her bag, "hey Mick" she answered as she walked back into the morgue. "What? What's he doing there?"

Lindsay sank back onto the couch, "What are we going to do about her?" Claire asked.

"I don't know." Lindsay answered as she massaged her temples.

"We have a problem." Jill announced as she came through the office door. "What's she doing here?" she asked when she spotted Cindy pacing in the morgue.

"She never listens to me." Lindsay replied softly, without looking up.

"So what's the latest problem?" Claire asked calmly.

Before Jill could answer Cindy came back into the office and dropped her keys into Lindsay's lap.

"What are these for?" Lindsay asked surprised.

"Jacobi asked where maggie was." Lindsay simply stared at her. "I figure while he's searching my apartment you may as well have a go at my car." Cindy stormed back through the morgue as her friends watched after her.

"That was the problem." Jill informed them. "Jacobi got a warrant."

"How did he get one so fast?" Lindsay asked in disbelief.

"Tom went to Denise this morning. She tried to keep it from me but luckily you can't keep secrets in our office."

"Damn it." Lindsay stood to leave but Jill grabbed her arm.

"Lindsay, what the hell is going on?" Jill demanded.

Lindsay turned to face her friends. She realized that the day had been moving by so fast that she hadn't had the time to fill them in on what she had found out. So she sat back down on the couch and went through the entire story of Cindy's connection to Milton, from the murder of Sarah four years ago to their conversation at Cindy's apartment earlier.

"You don't think..." Jill asked, in barely a whisper.

"No. I don't." Lindsay responded with a glare.

"What is wrong with your partner?" Claire asked forcefully.

"He's just doing his job." Lindsay jumped to her partner's defense. "Jacobi knows she didn't do anything, but at the moment he has nothing else." Partner or friend? She was really starting to feel schizophrenic. "I'm convinced it has something to do with the Dawson girl."

"Do you think Milton did something to her?"

"She's back, she was at her parents' house today. Said that she and Milton had a fight and that she went to a hotel alone to sort it out."

"And you don't buy it?" Jill asked skeptically.

"No. She seemed off, I couldn't put my finger on it though."

"Well, what did she say?" Claire asked,

"It's not so much what but how, she made sure to tell us that she called him at 2a.m."

"Why is that strange?" Jill questioned.

"She just found out her boyfriend was murdered, but she wasn't overly emotional. I would expect her details to be fuzzy." Lindsay tried to explain but her misgivings were based on her gut feel, and that wasn't something she could prove.

"Did she mention how he sounded?" Claire asked. When Lindsay shook her head she continued. "With the amount of drugs and alcohol in his system he wouldn't have been coherent at 2a.m., if he was even still alive."

"Your report placed time of death between midnight and 2." Jill cited.

"I know, and it is possible that he died immediately after the call, but I would lean toward the earlier time."

"Another thing Rachel mentioned," Lindsay hesitated. "She claimed that while she was on the phone with Milton that the woman he had fought with was parked across the street watching him."

"She claimed?" Jill examined.

"It didn't feel real. It took some prodding by Jacobi for her to remember it."

"You said you would expect her memory to be fuzzy." Jill reminded her

"But not that." Lindsay responded annoyed. "If someone you love is murdered the first information you give is something that would lead to the suspect, not an alibi for yourself."

"Are you sure this is about Rachel and not where she is pointing?" Jill trusted Lindsay's gut instincts but she knew that you can't go in front of a judge with gut instincts.

"Come on Jill." Lindsay knew lawyer mode when she heard it.

"We have to look at this objectively. You're ready to pin the murder on Rachel, and Claire is ready to fudge the time of death." Jill knew her friends were right, she just needed it laid out it front of her. It was Lindsay's job to catch the 'bad guy', and Claire's job to explain the evidence, but she was the one who had to prove it to twelve ordinary people.

"Hey. I'm not fudging anything." Claire scolded. "We are talking about Cindy. What would you have us do?"

"Exactly what we're doing." Jill conceded. "I know that Cindy couldn't kill anyone, but if I had to go into court right now I could make a pretty good case for a conviction."

"So what do we do now?" Claire challenged.

"First I'm going to talk to Tom. I'm going to need Rachel's phone records." Lindsay directed to Jill.

"I can try to get those. Milton's too?"

"Jacobi should have gotten those already, but if not then yes those too. Then I'm going to find out if their relationship was as strong as Rachel said it was." With their plan set out in front of them Lindsay and Jill left the office.

"Keep me posted." Claire called after them.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: Sorry for the long delay, it started with writer's block and then life went and got all in the way. I think I'm back on track (I hope). Thanks for your patience.

* * *

"What are you and Jacobi up to?" Lindsay asked as she entered Tom's office.

"I told you to stay away from this. I know you Lindsay, your loyalty could get you into trouble on this one."

"Cindy had nothing to do with Milton's murder."

"Fine, then let Jacobi prove that. Look you know as well as I do that we have to cover all our bases. Unless we can positively rule her out then she'll be reasonable doubt for any half way decent defense team."

Lindsay stared at him, did he really think Cindy was innocent or was this his way to get her to back off. "I really think it is connected to the Dawson girl. I don't buy her story of why she was gone. She had to have seen the news and she just let her family worry."

Tom got up from behind his desk and stood in front of his ex-wife. "Just because the missing person is found doesn't mean the case is over. Technically you are still on that case, and I would like every _T_ crossed and ever _I_ dotted before you close it." Tom informed her.

Lindsay stared at him for a second, "yes sir Lieutenant," she smiled. "I actually have Rachel's friend coming in now to talk about her relationship with Milton."

As Lindsay turned to leave the office she saw Jacobi standing in the doorway, "we found a gun. I've sent it to ballistics to see if it is the murder weapon and to see if we can trace it to an owner."

* * *

Claire walked into Papa Joe's where, as expected, she found Cindy sitting at the counter. "I thought we were in this together." Claire said as she sat next her.

Cindy gave her a small smile, "I may have heard that once before."

"You could have told us about Milton yesterday."

"I know, and I was going to. Last night I decided that I would tell Lindsay everything and let you guys deal with him. I didn't want my involvement to interfere with the Dawson girl's case."

"There is no case. She's home." Claire said as she motioned to the waitress for some coffee.

"She is?" Cindy asked surprised.

"Lindsay thinks she had something to do with the murder." Claire watched the relief spread across Cindy's face. "We never doubted you you know."

"Thanks." she responded with a sad smile. "I wouldn't have blamed you if you did though."

Claire took her young friend's hand, "I would have blamed me. Look, I know we haven't known each other long but I do think we know each other well." Claire watched as the tears welled in Cindy's eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Cindy looked away, "I always thought it would help once he was gone."

"What do you mean?"

Cindy looked up into Claire's warm comforting eyes and knew that this is what she always needed, "Mickey and I dated before he and Sarah did, I actually set them up. The day that she died Mick and I went to the football game and after we went out." Cindy glanced to her coffee, "if we had just gone home she'd still be here."

Claire waited for a moment, "did anything happen?" she asked. Not because she wanted, or needed, to know but because she was sure that Cindy needed to get rid of any guilt she still held on to.

"No." Cindy shook her head. "We had fun together, but we were not a good couple. Plus we both loved Sarah too much to do anything to hurt her."

"Then why are you still beating yourself up over this. It wasn't your fault." Claire assured.

"We should have been there for her."

"It wasn't your fault." Claire said again, causing Cindy to look at her with an unsure smile. "Does Mickey still have this guilt too?"

"Claire." Cindy sighed with a shake of her head.

"Can you honestly tell me that he had nothing to do with Milton's murder?"

Cindy wanted to answer, she trusted Mickey but not enough to lie to Claire in case she was wrong. Before she could form a reply her phone rang, "it's Lindsay," she said as she handed her phone to Claire.

Claire took the phone and answered for her friend. "Hey Lindsay."

_Claire? Why are you answering Cindy's phone_.

"We're having coffee and she couldn't answer it."

_Fine, whatever. Listen I want you to bring her back to the Hall, take her to your office and tell her to stay put._

"Why? What's going on?"

_I'll fill you in when you get here._


	8. Chapter 8

Lindsay walked into the interrogation room, sat a cup of coffee in front of Rachel's friend Holly and settled herself in the chair on the other side of the table. "I appreciate you coming in this evening to speak with me." Lindsay began with a smile. "Have you spoken with Rachel recently?"

"She called me this afternoon to let me know she was home and she told what happened to Eric." Holly took a drink of her coffee. "Have you found the woman that was stalking him?" She asked carefully as she took another drink, not meeting Lindsay's eyes.

Lindsay studied her for a moment before continuing, "Rachel said that she and Eric had a fight and that she went off by herself to sort it out." When Holly nodded Lindsay went on, "Is this something she did often?"

"No."

"Do you know what they fought about?" Lindsay watched as Holly shook her head and nervously drank her coffee. "Did you know where she was?" Lindsay asked forcefully, bringing her elbows up onto the table.

Holly's head jerked up and she started to deny it but then thought better of lying to the police, again. "Yes," she replied softly. "She called me from the hotel."

"So, when we spoke to you before you lied to us. And you let her parents worry while we exhausted hours of police resources to find her." Lindsay stated with disbelief.

"I'm sorry. She made me promise not to say anything. I honestly thought once she saw all the trouble she would show up sooner."

Lindsay sat for a moment massaging her temples as she pondered how much trouble she was going to make for the stupid girl sitting in front of her. If Holly had only told her the truth before she would have never brought Eric in for questioning and Cindy would have never seen him. The question she had to ask herself, would he still be alive. "If you want to avoid being charged with obstruction of justice then I want the whole story, every little thing you know." Lindsay said as calmly as she could.

* * *

"Did she say when she was going to meet us here?" Cindy asked anxiously from Claire's couch.

Claire looked up at her fidgeting friend, trying hard to hide her irritation, "you've asked me that five times already and we've only been sitting here for fifteen minutes."

"I'm sorry." Cindy replied sheepishly.

"I'm as curious as..." Claire stopped when she noticed the much anticipated Inspector walking through the morgue. "Speak of the devil."

Cindy jumped up from the couch as Lindsay walked into the office, "before you say anything I wanted to apologize for my outburst earlier," she waved off Lindsay's response. "It's just that this whole thing has brought up a lot of bad memories and I know I should have just told you before..."

"It's okay." Lindsay interjected as she walked over and put her hands on Cindy's shoulders. "I get it."

"It's not okay, but thanks." Cindy smiled softly as she sat back down on the couch, "so Claire tells me you think it might be the Dawson girl?"

"I did..." Lindsay sat down and studied Cindy for a moment before continuing. "Tell me again what time Michael made it to your place."

"Linz" Cindy sighed as she shook her head. She knew that if she and her friend Lindsay were going to get through this then she would just have to give in and answer Inspector Boxer's questions, "I don't actually know." Lindsay sat quietly waiting for the explanation. "He called me and said he was coming so I left a key in the hall for him. I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up, a little after one, he was already there. He told me that he got in about midnight."

Lindsay jumped up and walked across the office before turning back to Cindy. "How am I supposed to do my job if everyone involved just lies to me," she growled.

"Lindsay" Claire said calmly, yet with some force to her voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think I was lying to you." Cindy whispered as she studied the floor.

Lindsay kicked herself as she moved back over to the couch. She sat down, pulled Cindy into a hug and glanced over to meet Claire's scowl. "I'm sorry," she said softly. She pulled away and waited until her young friend finally made eye contact. "I'm not mad at you. I was just upstairs with Rachel's friend Holly and she knew where Rachel was the whole time."

"What?" Claire exclaimed. "What else did she say?"

"She told me that Rachel had an online relationship with someone named Gary. They had been talking for a few months and then a few weeks ago he told her what Eric was accused of five years ago."

Cindy looked at her with surprise, "you think the online guy was Mickey."

Lindsay nodded, "Rachel went to the hotel to meet this guy, he convinced her that Eric was dangerous and that she should get away from him."

"But you don't know if it was Mick?" Cindy asked hopefully.

Before Lindsay could answer Jill entered the office. "I stopped by your desk, Jacobi asked me to give this to you." She handed Lindsay a file. "You okay?" she asked Cindy.

"Fine. Thanks." Cindy responded softly.

Noting the worry creasing Lindsay's face Claire asked, "what's in the file?"

Lindsay looked up at her friends, "uniforms found a gun in a dumpster a few blocks from the bar. It's the murder weapon." She turned to Cindy, "they traced it to a gun show in LA. Jacobi is trying to track down the owner."

Cindy leaned back on the couch and ran her hands through her hair. "What's your theory?"

"I think it was Michael." Lindsay answered flatly. "Whether Rachel was in on it I don't know yet."

"So what do you want to do?" Jill asked.

"We need to connect the gun to him." Lindsay thought for a minute, "we should have more information in the morning. I think we can wait and talk to him and Rachel then."

"Is he still at your place?" Claire asked Cindy.

"Yeah, he's there." Lindsay answered for her. "Jacobi left a unit watching the apartment after they searched it." Lindsay added when Cindy looked at her.

"Well you can't stay there with him tonight." Jill stated.

"I'll be fine. Even if he did kill Eric, which I'm not so sure he did, he's not going to do anything to me." Cindy assured them

"And when he asks if you have any information are you going to be able to lie to him?" Jill asked doubtfully.

"And if I don't come home, you don't think that will make him suspicious?" Cindy added.

"You're staying with us tonight. I think we can come up with some excuse." Claire stated, ending the discussion.

Cindy looked at her friends and decided there was no point in arguing, "okay."

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all those who have stuck around so far. We are almost there. Hopefully I'll get it out soon.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: At one point in this chapter 2 conversations happen at once. The one in the interrogation room is in italics, I hope it's not confusing.

* * *

Lindsay spent the morning convincing Tom to go along with her plan. She assured him that by the end of the day they would have Eric Milton's killer in custody, she just could tell him exactly who that would be. Now she sat at her desk waiting to put that plan into motion, and hoping to hell it would work.

She rose from her desk and moved across the room when she saw Rachel Dawson and her father enter the bullpen. "Thank you for coming in this morning Rachel." Lindsay said with a shake of her hand. "Mr. Dawson." she added with a nod of her head.

"On the phone you said that you wanted Rachel to have a look at someone." Mr. Dawson inquired.

"Yes. I have her waiting in the interrogation room, if you would follow me please." Lindsay said as she led them to the observation room adjacent to the interrogation room.

Jill was waiting for them and Cindy sat alone on the other side of the window. "This is DDA. Bernhardt" Lindsay gave them a minute to shake hands before turning Rachel towards the window. "Do you recognize the young woman sitting in there?"

"Can she see us in here?" Mr. Dawson asked.

"No, its a mirror on her side." Jill assured him

Rachel hesitated for a second, "I'm not sure."

"She has already admitted to fighting with Eric the night of his murder, but denied killing him. I was just wondering if you had, maybe, seen her hanging around before." Lindsay pressed.

Rachel moved closer to the window, "she does look familiar," she answered tentatively. "But I can't say for sure," she turned back to Lindsay, "I could have seen her before."

"Okay. Thanks. That's all I needed." Lindsay smiled at them.

At that moment Jacobi escorted Michael into the interrogation room to join Cindy. Lindsay gave a slight nod to Jill when she saw a flash of recognition on Rachel's face.

Picking up on her cue Jill spoke. "Actually, I could use a few signatures on your earlier statements." she informed them. "It is pretty routine but you may want your lawyer here to go over the papers." Jill directed her statement to Mr. Dawson.

"If you think that is best." Mr. Dawson replied.

"Why don't we step out and you make your call." As Jill began to usher them out of the room Lindsay turned on the speaker from the other room.

When Rachel heard Michael's voice she stopped. "Why don't you go ahead daddy. I want to make sure Inspector Boxer doesn't need anything else." Mr. Dawson nodded hesitantly and then left the room with Jill.

"_Why didn't you come back to your place last night?" Michael asked Cindy as he entered the room. _

"_I told you on the phone that I needed some time to think things out."_

_Michael moved to the chair next to her, "why did they ask me to come down here anyway?"_

"_They just want to get everybody's story down. Just tell them what you told them before, that you were at my place." Cindy reminded him. _

Lindsay watched as Rachel stared at Michael. "That's not what he..." Rachel whispered.

"Do you know him?" Lindsay asked.

Rachel's head snapped up in surprise as she looked at Lindsay. "What? No."

"_Did you tell them that I got to your place about midnight?" Michael asked, in order to confirm their story._

"_I told them that I was asleep when you showed up and that when I woke up at one you were already there." _

"_What? Why?" Michael stood up and began pacing around the small room. "I told you I got there at midnight. Why didn't you just tell them that." He demanded._

_Cindy looked at him in surprise, "What's wrong with you?"_

"_Nothing." He smiled at her unconvincingly. "I just don't want them trying to pin this on me, that's all."_

"_Don't worry about it. I think they suspect Milton's girlfriend. Cindy informed him.  
_

Rachel backed away from the window and glanced at Lindsay. "What? I didn't kill him."

"I know you had an online boyfriend that you were going to meet at that hotel. Looks to me like you wanted Eric out of the picture." Lindsay theorized as she turned off the speaker.

"No that's not how it was." Rachel asserted nervously.

"Then tell me how it was." Lindsay said calmly. Rachel stood frozen to the spot and merely stared at her. "Why don't we just wait for your father and his lawyer and then we can make it all official."

"Wait. That man in there. He's the guy I met online. He told me his name was Gary."

"Actually is name is Michael Gray. He was engaged to the woman that Eric was accused of killing five years ago." Lindsay informed her.

"What?" Rachel moved to the window. "He didn't tell me that." She turned back to look at Lindsay. "He did tell me what Eric did, but not that he knew the girl. He just said that Eric may be dangerous and that I should break up with him."

"Why don't you tell me what happened the night Eric was killed." Lindsay motioned Rachel towards the small table against the opposite wall. As they sat down she glanced up to the small camera in the corner, knowing that Tom, Denise and Claire were in Tom's office watching the questioning.

"Gary told me to get away from Eric, check into a hotel where he couldn't find me. He said that he would talk to him and tell him to leave me alone." Rachel paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "The day that he was killed I followed him in order to tell Gary, or Michael, where he was. I saw him fight with that woman outside of the bar. I called Gary and told him where Eric was and he told me to go back to the hotel."

"Did you talk to Michael again that night." Lindsay coaxed.

"He showed up to the hotel after midnight. He told me that he didn't talk to Eric because somebody killed him."

"Did he say who?"

"No. But he said that we shouldn't be seen together. He told me to go back home in the morning. And then he left."

"You told me that you called Eric at two and that the woman was still there.?" Lindsay reminded.

"Gary told me to say that. He said that since I was supposed to be missing that the police might get the wrong idea about me." Rachel looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"And you went along with it?" Lindsay asked incredulously.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to do. Why is he saying he was with her?"

"The woman that Eric killed, that woman in there was her friend. She and Michael have been friends for a long time. He used you to get his revenge."

"So was she in on it too?"

"No. He used her too." Lindsay said sadly as she stood from the table. "Why don't we go and find your father.

* * *

Once Lindsay had Rachel, her father and their lawyer settled in Tom's office with Tom and Denise she made her way to the interrogation room, with Jill and Jacobi observing from the other room. When she entered she found Cindy and Michael up and pacing around the room. "Sorry to keep you both waiting so long," she began. They both turned to face her. "I just had a very interesting conversation with Rachel Dawson." She stated with a nod towards the mirror.

Michael looked from Lindsay to the window and then settled on Cindy. "You set me up?" He asked Cindy as her gaze went to the floor.

"I wouldn't throw around that accusation if I were you." Lindsay responded. When Cindy's eyes shot up to meet hers she explained. "According to Rachel she witnessed your fight with Milton and Michael gave her the story about the two a.m. phone call."

Cindy looked to Michael but was too shocked to speak. After a brief moment she found her voice, "you were going to put this on me?" She asked quietly.

"No." he defended. "I knew your friends wouldn't believe her. They wouldn't let you go down for something you didn't do." He said, trying to justify his action.

"You son of a bitch," Cindy said through gritted teeth. "How dare you use them like that."

"Stop." Lindsay put up her hands to end the conversation and turned her attention to Michael. "I know that Inspector Jacobi read you your rights when he brought you in this morning. Before this goes any further I want to make sure you understand you do have a right to have a lawyer present."

"I understand." He answered as he sat back down.

Cindy looked to Lindsay "Do you need me anymore."

"No. You can go, I'll get your statement later." She responded as Cindy moved to the door.

"I didn't just do this for me." Michael stated flatly stopping Cindy's escape from the room.

"Don't you dare claim you did this for me." Cindy said as she stared at the door.

"Don't you dare claim that Sarah's death didn't change you." Cindy kept her hand on the door knob but turned her head to look at him. "This isn't who you were going to be." Michael told her. "You surround yourself with death. You hang out with people who live with death everyday." He took a deep breath. "Now maybe we can both move on."

"Good-bye Mick." Cindy said as she left the room.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This is just a short wrap-up

* * *

**Epilogue**:

Claire had followed Cindy when she left the police station and now they found themselves silently drinking coffee at Papa Joe's. Cindy welcomed the presence of her friend but didn't quite know what to do with it either. Claire, instinctively understanding Cindy's emotional state, didn't press her young friend to talk about it.

After about an hour, and a pot of coffee, they were joined by the the other half of the 'club'.

It was Cindy who finally broke the silence. "I'm really sorry," she said sadly.

"For what?" Jill asked. "This wasn't your fault."

Cindy looked up at them with tears threatening, "yeah, but..."

"Cindy I asked you yesterday if you thought Michael was guilty." Claire reminded her. "You could have said no, but you didn't."

"And you could have just told me that he showed up at midnight, but you told me you weren't sure." Lindsay added.

"I didn't want to lie to you." Cindy answered as she studied her coffee.

"I know it was hard for you to admit that he may be guilty," Claire consoled. "But in the end you did the right thing." she added positively.

"I really thought that he had been able to move past Sarah's death."

After a moments silence Lindsay's curiosity finally got the better of her. "What did he mean when he said this wasn't who you were going to be?"

"Nothing." Cindy said nonchalantly.

"Cindy." Lindsay prompted.

"In school I had always focused on political reporting," reluctantly she looked up at her friends. "I'm supposed to be in D.C."

Claire reached out and covered Cindy's hand with her own, "well I for one am glad you changed your mind."

"Some things are more important than politics." Cindy replied with a small smile. "Speaking of that.." she reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook. "What finally convinced you it was Michael?"

"Cindy." Jill said with a shake of her head.

"What? This is what we do." She replied innocently.

Lindsay looked to Jill and Claire as though she was seeking permission, when she received a small nod from Claire she began. "We weren't sure of Rachel's level of involvement but we zeroed in on Michael when we traced the gun back to a friend of his in LA."

The rest of the evening was a typical 'club' meeting, going over the specifics of another case closed.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to those who read and reviewed. I really appreciate those who stuck with it till the end.

A/N2: I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the title. Everyone can interpret it for themselves.


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